FIFA revenue hits $7.5 billion for current world cup period
During the four years of commercial deals tied to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA earned record profits of $7.5 billion, AP reported, citing the governing body of soccer on Sunday.
FIFA disclosed its earnings to more than 200 members' officials. It is $1 billion higher than the last commercial cycle related to 2018 Russia World Cup.
The extra income was buoyed by commercial deals with the World Cup host country.
Qatar Energy joined as a top-tier sponsor, and new third-tier sponsors include Qatari bank QNB and telecoms firm Ooredoo.
FIFA also added second-tier sponsorship contracts from financial platform crypto.com and a blockchain firm this year, making it the organization's first new American sponsor in more than a decade.
Key broadcast deals for this year's World Cup were signed during Sepp Blatter's presidency in two-tournament deals that included the Russia and Qatar tournaments. They included deals with Fox in the United States and Qatari broadcaster BeIN Sports from 2011.
Despite the Covid-19 outbreak, FIFA's income will climb to almost $2.5 billion. FIFA was prepared to utilize the funds to assist its members during the period of uncertainty in 2020, when national team soccer and World Cup qualifying games were nearly canceled.
Revenues are likely to approach $10 billion for the next four years thanks to a new financial strategy for women's soccer and the expanded 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
